Trading stocks online for the first time can be a scary venture, especially if you’re not familiar with what an online stock broker can offer.

Using a reputable company with a good track record should give you some peace of mind.

TradeKing was one of the top online stock trading providers until the company was acquired by Ally Financial in 2016.

Since then, Ally Invest (as it's been re-branded) has continued to offer a variety of investment options with most of the same benefits, just a different name.

Ally Invest Pricing Structure and Trade Fees

One of the best things about TradeKing was that it offered low-cost stock trading. Keeping in line with this precedent, Ally offers stock and ETF trades for a flat fee of $4.95 and $0.65 for every options contract.

If you are trading penny stocks (meaning stocks valued at under $2.00) you will be charged an extra $0.01 for every share traded. This pricing is one of the lowest available and it’s just one of many reasons to open an Ally Invest account.

If you conduct 30 trades or more per quarter or you have a balance of at least $100,000, then you qualify for volume/balance pricing. The cost is only $3.95 per trade and $0.50 for options contracts. These prices are very low compared to other online stock trading companies.

Ally Invest does not have a minimum account balance requirement, but you do have to make an opening purchase order of at least $100. You don’t have to worry about account or inactivity fees because there are none. They do charge a $50 full outgoing transfer fee and $50 IRA closing fee.

Ally Invest Features

In learning how to manage your own investments, access to good information and real-time data is extremely important.

Ally Invest provides a customizable dashboard that can be accessed on any device, so you can check in on your investments at any time. You can use their interactive calculators, other tools, and review charts to analyze trades and track performance.

Ally Invest gives you all of the tools that you need to make informed decisions about your investments. Analyze and follow the performance of stocks, ETF’s, or indices by reviewing their performance on any one of six different types of charts. There are over 90 chart studies and assorted chart drawing tools to use while analyzing data.

The stock market can be a volatile place, so it’s important to review the most current data. You can stay up to date with market statistics and company snapshots available on Ally. There is also the option to set up one or more “Watchlists” to receive updated data on groups of securities.

Ally Invest provides profit/loss and probability calculators for its customers. The profit/loss calculator is designed to help you see the range of outcomes of a potential trade, with adjustable volatility and durations of time. The profitability calculator provides an outlook for your investments, to determine the probability that you will hit your targeted earnings by any given date. You can adjust various factors to see how they would change your investment outlook.

Unlike some other stock trading providers, Ally Invest provides customer service 24 hours per day, seven days a week. They pride themselves on the fact that brokers are accessible to customers whenever they have a question about investing.

Finally, customers can improve their understanding of investment strategies and market trends by reading informational articles in Ally’s online education center. They have a fairly comprehensive selection of materials that can help you increase your investing acumen.

Ally Invest Maxit Tax Manager

One of the biggest issues that come with managing your own investments, is remembering to consider the tax implications of your trading activities. All of your Ally holdings will be tracked in the Merit Tax Manager, where you can choose from four different accounting methods. The tax manager ledger includes information about gains, losses, and wash sales.

This feature is a great help for adjusting your investment strategy based on tax considerations. You can even use it to print out all necessary tax forms at the end of the year.

Ally Invest Awards

In the short amount time since TradeKing became Ally Invest, this stock trading service has already received numerous accolades.

2016 Best in Class for “Commissions & Fees” – Stockbrokers.com

2016 Best in Class for “Offering of Investments” – Stockbrokers.com

2016 Rated 4 Stars and ranked as one of the industry's “Best for Options Traders” – Barron's

Investment Protection from Ally Invest

Ally Invest Securities, LLC provides protection for accounts up to $500,000 per client and has additional insurance that provides protection for securities and cash up to an aggregate of $150 million.

Last Edited: August 1, 2017 @ 3:31 pmThe content of ptmoney.com is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Visitors to ptmoney.com should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate professional advice. In accordance with the latest FTC guidelines, we declare that we have a financial relationship with every company mentioned on this site.

About Harmony Smith

Harmony Smith blogs at CreatingMyKaleidoscope.com. She is a working mom of five who is fighting to pay off debt, so she can escape from her 9-5 job, and spend more time with her family. Harmony blogs about saving money, increasing her income with side hustles, DIY projects, and other adventures.

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The content of ptmoney.com is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Visitors to ptmoney.com should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate professional advice.